The day passed without incident.That, more than anything, unsettled Kael.

  Morning slipped by in a series of small, familiar tasks motions that had become routine enough to almost feel safe. He rinsed the clay pot at the river, watching clear water carry away the last traces of silt and ash as it spilled back into the current.

  Too clean.

  Ash followed close at his side, padding along with an easy confidence Kael still wasn’t used to seeing. There was no limp anymore. No hesitation. The pup moved like he belonged here now, nose low, ears twitching at sounds Kael barely registered.

  They ate lightly. Mostly berries. A thin strip of meat Kael had cut carefully to make it last. Ash took his share without rushing, sitting when Kael motioned instead of snapping it from his hand.

  That still surprised him.

  Afterward, Kael leaned against the tower wall, chewing slowly as his gaze drifted over the village ruins. The broken houses hadn’t changed but the way he saw them had. They weren’t just remnants of something dead anymore.

  They were resources. Shelter, Material, Possibility.

  And threats.

  The unease returned before he consciously noticed it. Kael’s eyes lifted toward the horizon.

  The smoke was there again.

  Thin. Pale. Almost lost against the sky if you didn’t know where to look. Kael shifted his stance, angling himself for a better view. This time, he didn’t look away quickly. He stared, counting breaths, measuring distance with nothing but instinct.

  Is that closer than it was?

  The question sat heavy in his chest. He couldn’t be sure. The wind shifted, stretching the smoke until it thinned and broke apart, dissolving into the sky like it had never been there.

  Kael exhaled slowly.

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  “You’re imagining it,” he muttered.

  Ash lay nearby, stretched out in the sun. At least Kael thought he was resting.

  He turned back to the tower and pressed his hands against the patched stone, testing the clay where it had dried unevenly. Fine cracks had formed shallow but visible. Not dangerous yet. But not permanent either.

  Tomorrow, he’d need more clay.

  Work helped. It gave shape to the hours. Kael wedged small stone fragments into loose gaps, adjusted crooked pieces, wiped his hands on his pants, then stepped back to judge the result.

  That was when he noticed the light.

  Soft glows drifted near the forest edge.

  Fireflies.

  Kael frowned.

  The sun was still high.

  They hovered lazily, their pale glow steady and calm. Not swarming. Not spreading. Just… present. As if they had always been there and Kael was only just allowed to notice them.

  Ash had risen to a sitting position.

  Kael hadn’t noticed him move.

  The pup’s posture was wrong not tense, not aggressive. Focused. His ears angled forward, eyes locked on the treeline with an intensity that made Kael’s skin prickle.

  “Ash,” Kael said quietly.

  No response.

  He stepped closer, following Ash’s line of sight. The forest looked unchanged. No movement. No sound. Leaves hung still. Branches didn’t sway, despite the breeze brushing against Kael’s skin.

  The forest felt muted. As if something had pressed a hand over its mouth.

  “Ash,” he said again, firmer.

  The pup’s ears twitched but his eyes didn’t move.

  A thin prickle crawled up Kael’s spine. He crouched beside Ash and rested a hand on his back. Warm. Steady. Very much alert.

  “You smell something?” Kael asked softly.

  Ash didn’t growl. Didn’t whine.

  He just watched.

  After a long moment, Ash finally turned his head toward Kael. His tail flicked once uncertain then stilled again. He didn’t relax.

  Neither did Kael.

  The fireflies drifted lower as the afternoon stretched on. Kael kept himself busy as evening approached, but his attention never fully left the forest. He sharpened the edge of his stone knife, adjusted the straps holding the wolf hide, reorganized supplies that didn’t truly need reorganizing.

  When he lit the fire, he kept it smaller than usual.

  Just enough.

  The smoke rose thin and careful, breaking apart quickly as it climbed. Kael watched it longer than necessary, jaw tight.

  Ash stayed near the tower’s opening long after the light began to fade.

  That night, Kael lay awake longer than he meant to.

  The forest made no sound.

  And somehow, that was worse than if it had.